Destruction of a Generation in "All Quiet on the Western Front"

Summary: In "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque, Paul and his comrades become separated from society as World War I soldiers and begin to rely on their basic survival instincts. In these surroundings, they still show humane qualities such as compassion, camaraderie, support and remorse.

The story of several schoolmates who symbolize a generation destroyed by the dehumanisation of the First World War, All Quiet on the Western Front tells of the men who died, and the tragically changed lives of those who survived. Remarque follows the story of Paul Bäumer, a young infantryman, from his last days of school to his death three years later. Whereas the journey motif is typically used to portray a positive character development, that of Paul is deliberately the opposite. In what has been dubbed the greatest antiwar novel of all time, Remarque depicts the way in which Paul is snatched away from humanity by the brutality of war. However while Paul and his comrades become separated from society, and begin to rely on their basic survival instincts, in their own surroundings they still show humane qualities...